Kym encountered Ryan and Paul Castle, who exchanged a panicked look Wednesday when told the burgers the twins were enjoying contained a secret ingredient.

Kids want their school lunches to be “safe,” as in “full of foods they know they’ll like,” said Jan Jager, food service director at Northview Public Schools.

That’s why Jager didn’t quietly divulge until students were well into their lunches that the burgers her staff is serving during “Mi Products, My Michigan, Mi School Lunch Week” have dried cherries mixed in with the ground beef.

Integrating cherries reduces the fat content of the burger, which Northview serves on a multi-grain Aunt Millie’s bun. Cherries also add antioxidants, nutrients which can prevent or slow the oxidative damage in the body.

Press photo|Kym ReinstadlerNorth Oakview Elementary third graders, from left, Mariah Quiles, Jelena Fiting, Ryan and Paul Castle
Nobody at Ryan and Paul’s lunch table could guess the burger’s secret ingredient, and was surprised to learn there were cherries disguised in there somewhere.

They also enjoyed the “sides” on Wednesday’s lunch: roasted Michigan-grown asparagus still firm enough to pick up with your fingers, milk from Cedar Crest, a local dairy, and a Kellogg’s Rice Krispie treat.

Orange slices and banana halves weren’t grown in Michigan, but there is a Michigan company, Peterson Farms, that packages apple slices and carrot sticks that kids clamor after whenever they’re on the menu, Jagar said.

Students who didn’t choose the burger got spaghetti made in the Northview High School kitchen, which was served with a Bun Basket roll.

It was a pretty good lunch, according to fourth-grader Katelyn Osman, although she said she prefers her asparagus cooked a little longer with butter and salt.

Jager praised Gordon Foods for working a miracle to help local school food service directors line up enough Michigan asparagus to serve during this special week of Michigan menus, which coincides with the Fifth National Farm-to-Cafeteria Conference being held in Detroit.

Menus were made out a month ago, and the state’s asparagus crop is maturing a little late, Jager said.